China's approach to military tech with Tate Nurkin

Tate Nurkin joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss China's weapons technologies. He is the founder of the OTH Intelligence Group, and a non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council. We touch on a wide range of topics, including: Progress on civil-military integration Volume and velocity in Chinese development Advances in autonomous systems and drone swarms The fast pace of change in hypersonic missiles China's PLA Navy shipbuilding How the United States needs to work better with other countries Kai-Fu Lee's take on techno-utilitarianism The Army's approach to Future Vertical Lift Tate recognizes the rapid progress of China's progress since the watershed 2013-2014 reforms, and indeed the number of Chinese firms marketing unmanned systems. For example, China has successfully demonstrated swarms of 119 UAVs and 56 unmanned surface maritime vessels. However, he argues that we have a tendency to overplay the challenges facing the United States defense industry, and underplay those facing China. The Chinese defense industry still faces its own hurdles, including the inefficiency of state owned enterprises and persistent troubles developing aircraft engines. We should also treat the operational effectiveness of China's hypersonic missile, the DF-17, with a dose of skepticism. Yet overall, it is impressive how fast China can get new applications out into the field. This should force the United States to think hard about the way it conducts business, and how that can be sped up to match the threat. This podcast was produced by Eric Lofgren. Soundtrack by urmymuse: "reflections of u". You can follow us on Twitter @AcqTalk and find more information at AcquisitionTalk.com.